Really? I know, not the most profound statement but stay with me…

If you think about it, many business owners go into their marketing looking for the “quick fix” many times on the one hit campaign that is going to bring in a flood of leads.

Reality check…

It just doesn’t happen like that without some hard work, and elbow grease as my grandpa likes to call it. What does that mean from a marketing perspective? It means you need a marketing strategy and a system to execute it. If you don’t have that, marketing and lead generation will be hard, maybe forever. It gets easy when you know each day what you must do to execute your system. You will no longer be frustrated about what to do next. And, you will quit chasing the latest shiniest object out there that promises thousands of leads with one email blast, or page 1 Google rankings for $59…

Here are two things you should do right now to get started:

1) Create a marketing strategy – Sit down, and spend the time to create a marketing plan. One of the best solutions I have found that we use in Duct Tape Marketing is Marketing Plan Pro by Palo Alto Software. It is based around the Duct Tape Marketing principles I use to coach small businesses like yours.

2) Just In Time vs. Just In Case Learning – Are you an info junkie? Do you spend time learning “just in case” you need it? Or, do you look at your strategy and focus on learning skills just in time to execute your strategy?
If you are the former and not the latter, I suggest you shift your approach. this will help you with the very next thing you need to do to execute your strategy. One question I always ask and have posted on my office wall is “What Do I Need Know To Accomplish This Task?” Asking this one question forces you to get clear on the resources, knowledge, and tools you need to accomplish one task at a time without distraction.

Just remember, strategy before tactics is always a winner…

Cheers,